Jeffery Deaver interview: The secrets of writing a bestseller

Thriller writer Jeffery Deaver was penning award nominated novels - but for some reason they weren’t selling.

After his sixth book - a mystery in the Poirot vein - came out to critical acclaim, but little money, he knew he had to act.

“They were well received, but they didn't do extremely well in terms of sales. Then I re-read them and I realized they weren’t as good as I had hoped,” says Jeffery.

That’s when he began working on something he calls his ‘mint toothpaste’ business plan.

“I’m a big list maker and I was aware that I needed to be more scientific about it. So it was in my late 30s I outlined a book for the first time - after writing half a dozen. That book was exponentially better and so I have been following that model ever since.”

To read the full article on cambridgeindependent.co.uk, click here